Fears for Elephants on 3,100 km Train Ride
Fear that Four elephants being transported from Assam to Ahmedabad will die due to exhaustion and heat.
On 4th July the Sri Jagannathji Temple in Ahmedabad will be celebrating the 142nd Rath Yatra, the festival is where carriages and chariots are pulled by elephants in public, the temple said that 3 of their own elephants died of old age and that they are borrowing 4 elephants from the Assam government for a span of two months. They plan to send them by train.
Animal rights activists are very unhappy with how the elephants are being planned to be transported, saying they will be in a hot train carriage for 3-4 days over 3,100 km the trains will reach speeds of up to 100km as the carriages will be attached to passenger cars as well.
Mr. Kaushik Barua a wildlife conservationist from Assam has said the elephants can suffer heatstroke, shock from the journey and there is a very high chance they may die on the journey. By law there is nothing that prevents this from happening but he asked to show some mercy for the animals welfare.
No date has been set for their departure from Assam but they are expected to reach Ahmedabad before 4th July for the Rath Yatra.
